Kitz Forum

Announcements => News Articles => Topic started by: Bowdon on March 10, 2017, 10:14:12 AM

Title: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: Bowdon on March 10, 2017, 10:14:12 AM
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2017/03/ofcom-bt-reach-voluntary-agreement-openreachs-uk-future.html (http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2017/03/ofcom-bt-reach-voluntary-agreement-openreachs-uk-future.html)

Quote
After an exhausting year of disagreements it’s today been announced that BT and the UK telecoms regulator have finally reached an agreement on the future of the operator’s network access division, which means that Ofcom won’t need to force through Openreach’s “legal separation“.

The situation began last February after Ofcom published their Strategic Review, which aimed to build a new framework for the next decade of telecoms and broadband regulation in the United Kingdom. The review noted that Openreach still had an “incentive to make decisions in the interests of BT, rather than BT’s competitors, which can lead to competition problems” and that the BT had failed to “sufficiently” consult rival ISPs, such as those that piggyback off their network, on future “investment plans that affect them.”

Openreach was also accused of having under-invested in its network to the tune of “hundreds of millions of pounds“. The newly appointed chairman of Openreach, Mike McTighe, recently appeared to support this claim by agreeing that the operator should have invested more into their national infrastructure.

I thought a lot of this was being done anyways. I guess the sticking point was the pensions.

We'll see how all this goes.
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: GigabitEthernet on March 10, 2017, 12:38:30 PM
Good is all I can say.
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: Bowdon on March 10, 2017, 02:31:16 PM
This quote from VM give me a chuckle.. but not in they want;

Quote
“Openreach is just the same old snail’s paced network with a new shell. Call it what you like but it’s still BT, four times slower than Virgin Media.”

If VM had a cosistant service quality, at least equal to BT, then the whole landscape of broadband would be in a lot better shape than it is today.
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: Oldjim on March 10, 2017, 03:34:38 PM
Of course as a more or less separate entity it will have to generate income to pay for the expansion and unless OFCOM stop screwing down the prices that isn't going to happen
Of course the one thing which isn't clear yet is how Openreach will handle the pension deficit which they will be landed with as, apparently, OFCOM don't take it into account unlike some of the other regulators
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: Chrysalis on March 10, 2017, 09:43:59 PM
vm trying to mock when they have snail pace linx peering and single threaded speeds at adsl levels. ok
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: Chrysalis on March 11, 2017, 08:51:27 AM
on a more serious note, I am not sure what ofcom will achieve with this other than just pleasing the unbundled competitors such as sky, vodafone and talktalk.

BT still have control over the very important key metric which is the budget openreach can spend on capital spending.  So ultimately because they control the budget they can still move profits to other parts of BT group.

Openreach now have to include all its customers in talks related to future plans, but any such plans are going to be restricted by the budget BT group allows it to spend.

I think this is a good outcome for BT and seems to be a case of ofcom boasting they were going to do something which they have stepped down on.

I assume sky and co are happy because they can carry on pretending they have some kind of ownership of the infrastructure to its customers, and with BT branding removed of openreach vans this illusion can be continued.  Ofcom have done the opposite of what really should have been done which is bringing openreach closer to the end user and even removing CPs from the line rental arrangement altogether, they in deep in this silly idea of artificial competition generated by the resale arrangement.
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: Oldjim on March 12, 2017, 04:22:00 PM
From today's Times
Quote
Britain’s media watchdog is poised to open up a second front in its campaign to rein in BT, with a stringent set of proposed new curbs.

Ofcom is expected to order the former state-owned monopoly to lower the price it charges rivals such as Sky and TalkTalk for access to its fibre-optic broadband network, industry sources said. There are also likely to be heavier penalties if performance targets are missed.
So Openreach get their income cut and are expected to increase investment
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: Chrysalis on March 12, 2017, 08:04:28 PM
ofcom have completely lost it they may as well be called the legal representatives of sky and talk talk
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: NewtronStar on March 12, 2017, 10:52:22 PM
Sounds like bla bla bla from Sharon white from ofcom she thinks we are all gonna get FTTH soon well there not living in the real world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36892461 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36892461)

What the heck is Fast Fibre to the Doorstep FFTD  :D
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: Chrysalis on March 12, 2017, 11:16:28 PM
Newt we should report ofcom to the ASA for misleading advertising. :)
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: niemand on March 16, 2017, 10:18:23 AM
This quote from VM give me a chuckle.. but not in they want;

If VM had a cosistant service quality, at least equal to BT, then the whole landscape of broadband would be in a lot better shape than it is today.

I have my doubts. Think it's more about pricing than anything else. VM's boss could do with learning that higher quality comes with costs, though.
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: niemand on March 16, 2017, 10:25:27 AM
More widely this agreement is largely a waste of time. It's purely there to give Ofcom and politicians something to crow about and to avoid involving the EU. All the taking back control rhetoric wouldn't look so good if our telecomms regulator voluntarily referred something to Brussels.
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: Black Sheep on March 20, 2017, 12:28:44 PM
Questions about Openreach Limited

1. How will Openreach Limited be different to other BT lines of business?

When we’ve fully completed implementation, we will no longer be a 'line of business'. We will be a separate company and a separate legal entity. We have our own Governance with our own board and Clive will report to Mike McTighe, our new chairman. The important thing is that we are still wholly-owned by BT Group.

2. Will assets be transferred to Openreach Limited?

Openreach will manage and operate its assets on behalf of BT. Assets ownership will remain with BT Group. BT Group will provide funds which we will invest in network platforms and in better service for all our customers. 

3. What will happen to the Openreach brand?
 
We will rebrand Openreach to symbolise our independence. In practise this will mean removing the BT logo. Rebranding will happen over a period of a few years - after the new agreement has been implemented.  This means that we minimise the impact on customers (e.g. by taking vans off the road to rebrand) and keep costs at a minimum. Please don’t make your own changes to our existing logo or templates. Our brand team is on it. They’re developing guidelines which will cover all customer touchpoints like PowerPoint decks, business cards, uniforms and vans. We’ll share these as soon as they’re ready.
 
4. Are we required to make further systems separation?

There are no additional requirements required beyond the existing arrangements. Of course, systems are fundamental to the customer experience so we will continue to look to make improvements across the board.

5. Ofcom has announced another consultation- what is this about?

As expected, Ofcom announced a period of consultation from 17th March – 14th April 2017. They are consulting on releasing BT from its current Undertakings, and for these to be replaced by a new set of commitments.
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: kitz on March 20, 2017, 01:14:23 PM
More widely this agreement is largely a waste of time. It's purely there to give Ofcom and politicians something to crow about and to avoid involving the EU. All the taking back control rhetoric wouldn't look so good if our telecomms regulator voluntarily referred something to Brussels.

... and money.
Title: Re: Ofcom and BT Reach Voluntary Agreement on Openreach’s Future
Post by: Weaver on March 23, 2017, 01:05:16 AM
Quite agree with Chrysalis. Ofcom needs a good slap on the side of the head with a large wet fish. Tory mantra crap from the mid 1980s.